Art of making butter



(No Model.)

J. BOYD. ART OF MAKING BUTTER.

No. 429,187. I PatentedJune 3, 1890.

n n a I u q a 1, W5 :1 T a WWW W m H V M h mf m UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

'JOI-IN BOYD, OF ELMHURST, ILLINOIS.

ART OF MAKING BUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 429,187, dated June 3,1890.

Application filed March 18, 1889. Serial No. 303,640. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN BOYD,a citizen of the United States, residingin Elmhurst, in the county of Du Page and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and usefulImprovement in the Art of Making Butter, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in the art of making butter; andit more particularly relates to the method of ripening cream, hereindescribed.

It has long been known that when the cream from which the butter is tobe churned 'is in a peculiar acid condition, well understood by someskillful butter-makers, and determined by the peculiar taste and smellknown to the skillful manipulator, the cream will churn easier andquicker, more butter will be produced, having a better flavor and betterkeeping properties. This exact condition cannot be described in words,and can only be known to persons who have acquired the knowledge byactual practice. Various efforts have been made to artificially producethis peculiar condition in the cream, chief among which, and perhaps themost successful, is what I have heard called the Danish method, andconsists in mixing with the cream, about twenty-four hours before it isused, a small proportion of what is called a starter, consisting ofskimmed milk which has first been warmed to about 90 Fahrenheit, andallowed to stand twenty-four hours, when, if the conditions have chancedto be right, the milk will be found to have thickened and to have turnedslightly acid. About from one to two per cent. of this starter is mixedwith the cream, the latter being at a temperature of about Fahrenheit,and the cream then allowed to stand twenty-four hours, when it ischurned. I have been able occasionally to produce splendid results bythis .Danish process so called, but have found it extremely uncertain,although I have had an experience Danish butter-worker in my employ. Inthe first place I experienced great difficulty and uncertainty inproducing the starter. Sometimes the skimmed milk will be found in theright condition, and at other times it will be found worthless for thatpurpose. In the next place, even when the starter was right and properlyapplied to the cream, I would find the latter at the end of twenty-fourhours unequally ripened, and the result would be a diminution in thequantity of butter, or an inferior quality, or both.

The present invention is the result of my efforts and experiments withthe Danish process. I apprehended that the great uncer tainty, both withregard to the preparation of the starter and the ripening of the cream,might be due to the changes in the temperature of the milk and cream,and. I have found that when the milk is incased in a non-conductingvessel or substance the result is always sure and certain, and where thecream is inclosed in a non-conducting vat the ripening is effected in aperfectly-uniform manner throughout the mass and the cream always thesame in condition. 3y this simple means it is possible, therefore, toproduce the best results without the skilled laborwhich has heretoforebeen necessary, and with entire uniformity, so that the chief difficultyin butter-making is overcome.

In the accompanyingdrawings, which form part of this specification, Ihave shown at Figure 1 a sectional view of a skimmed-milk vessel such asI use for inclosing the milk during the preparation of the starter; atFig. 2, a similar sectional view of a non-conducting cream-vat forcontaining the cream after admixture of the starter and during theripening thereof. Fig. 3 is'a plan view of the device shown at Fig. lwith the cover removed, and Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the cream-vaton the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Of course any suitable non-conducting vessels may be employed in thepractice of my invention; but I have found the following to beexcellently adapted to that purpose. The vessel for containing theskimmed milk, and shown at Figs. 1 and 3, consists of a tin can A, builtinto a wooden box B, as shown in the drawings, the space between the tinand the wood being filled with felt O. A cover composed of a wooden partB, the tin part A, and felt-filling 0 serves to close the can and boxtightly.

The cream-vat shown at Figs. 2 and 4 may consist of a metal tank E,built into a wooden box F, and having an interposed felt-filling G. Ifind that it is not strictly necessary in the case of the cream-vat tohave the cover metal lined and filled with felt, but this may be done,if preferred; and in the drawings I have shown a cover for the vat madeof wood II, and simply lined with tin J, the same being so contrivedthat it may slide longitudinally to open and close the vat.

In the practice of my improvement in the art of butter-makin g I take ofskimmed milk, perfectly sweet, and from which all cream has beencarefully removed, from two to four gallons. Less may be used, ofcourse, but I find it better to use a considerable body, say twogallons. I heat this milk in a water bath, preferably, and to atemperature of 90 Fahrenheit. This temperature may be varied to aconsiderable degree above and somewhat below that point; but I havefound by far the best results to be produced by a rigid adherence to theexact point of 90 Fahrenheit. \Vhile the milk is heating I warm theinterior of the milk-vessel by rinsing it with warm water, and thenplace the heated milk in the vessel shown at Fig. I, cover the same andlet it stand thus for twenty-fen r hours, (more or less.) I find byobservation that the temperatnre of the milk changes in the vessel veryslowly and regularly, usually gradually and slowly falling, but not insuch degree as to interfere with the chemical change which it isnecessary shall take place in the milk to produce the desired condition.I have not yet been able to definitely locate the exact period of timeat which the inclosed milk first assumes the required condition. It maybe that it reaches this stage in a much shorter time than twenty-fourhours. I expect to c011- d not experiments with a view to ascertain theshortest period; but at present and thus far have deemed this animmaterial fact, because in the manufacture of butter it is customary tochurn not oftener than once a day, and twenty-four hours is therefore anextremely convenient period of time to allow the milk to set, as itbrings the operation to the same hour each day.

I place the cream in the vat shown at Figs. 2 and 4: and by some meansbring it to a temperatu re of about Fahrenheit. The means I prefer toemploy for this purpose is, in case the cream is too cold, a tin vesselor can full of hot water lowered into the body of the cream and waved ormoved about therein until the temperature of the whole body of cream isuniformly raised to the required degree. In case the cream is too warmcold water or ice may be used instead of the warm water. To every onehundred quarts of cream I add from one pint to one quart of the starter.The starter, when taken from the vessel n which it has been prepared,will be found 111 a curdled or elabbered state, and in order to thin itand separate it it is advisable to stra n or force it through the meshesof a fine hair sieve. The starter maybe added to the cream eitherimmediately before, during, or after the production of the righttemperature in the cream; but I prefer to add it during the stirringoperation just above described, as this helps to incorporate it with thecream. The cream so prepared at the temperature indicated, with theadmixture of the starter, prepared as stated, is allowed to stand in thenon-conducting vat for about twenty-four hours-i. c., until the nextdays ehurning--at which time it is churned with the uniform results ofthe best quality and largest quantity of butter being produced. lVhilethe cream is in the vat, after admixture of the starter, it should beallowed to stand still and not be disturbed in any manner. I have foundthat stirring after the cream is once ready retards the operation ofripening, and, moreover, pro duees bad results. I recommend, also, incase of the preparation of the starter, that it be allowed to remainasquiet as possible, as any agitation will hinder and prevent the chemicalchange required.

No especial attention need be paid to the temperature of the room inwhich the vessels stand, either the milk-vessel or the cream-vat, as thenon-conducting character of the vessels renders this temperatureunimportant.

I claim The improvement in the art of ripening cream in butter-making,which consists in bringing the cream to a temperature at whichfermentation may be engendered, adding the necessary fermentive starter,and maintaining the mixture during the necessary period offcrmentatiom-i. e., about twentyfour hours-in a closed vessel at saidtemperature, or a slow abatement therefrom, substantially as specified.

JOHN BOYD.

IVitnesses:

II. M. MUNDAY, EDMUND ADCOCK.

